St. Paul focuses on transit-oriented development

Minneapolis’ director of transit development David Frank worked with The Cornerstone Group to put together a plan for the city to purchase and demolish the former Boeser sheet metal fabrication building at 2901 Fourth St. SE, near the future Prospect Park light-rail station. Cornerstone plans to create about 250 affordable- and market-rate apartments at the site. (Submitted rendering)

With a number of housing developments completed or underway along the Central Corridor light-rail transit line, city of St. Paul officials are turning more attention to development they believe will increase jobs and economic activity along the route.

Minneapolis filled a transit-oriented development (TOD) position more than two years ago. But St. Paul is still being cutting edge as it seeks to hire its own development manager for its side of the $957 million LRT project scheduled to open next year, said Elizabeth Wampler, a project manager with Reconnecting America, a national nonprofit focused on transportation and land use.

“It’s not something that every city that cares about TOD or has transit does,” said Wampler, who has worked with municipalities and agencies involved in Twin Cities transit-related development.

St. Paul posted an advertisement June 7 for the TOD manager job. The TOD manager will network with developers, property owners, investors, lenders, city staff, elected officials and others to create jobs. And the new official will be expected to build support for the projects among district councils, chambers of commerce and other stakeholders.

Peter Braster held a similar position in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, Texas, and found it to be an essential position for spurring development along Carrollton’s rail corridor and three stations. (St. Paul, in contrast, will have 10.)

“Because I wasn’t the regulator, I could become that ombudsman for both sides and get the best for the city. … It’s a really important role because it’s someone the developer can get to know and trust,” said Braster, presently senior development manager in Carrollton.

In the TOD manager job ad, the city estimates that the Central Corridor area has room for thousands of additional apartments, as well as millions of square feet of office and retail space.

“It’s a key moment for the corridor over its life to grab those development opportunities over the next 24 months,” said Jonathan Sage-Martinson, director of the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative.

The city has applied to the funders collaborative and to the McKnight Foundation for grants to fund the position. It advertised the salary as $73,517 to $93,369 annually. A McKnight Foundation spokesperson said the foundation does not comment on applications it is considering.

Cecile Bedor, St. Paul’s director of planning and economic development, said she’s “very confident” that the city will obtain the money through grants.

“The most exciting part is to really have somebody focused on how we take advantage of LRT to grow jobs on that corridor,” said Bedor, who will supervise the TOD manager.

The ideal candidate must be smart, tenacious and a good critical thinker with an entrepreneurial spirit, according to Bedor. He or she also will work on development around other transitways in the city.

The application deadline is June 14.

“It’s really somebody who’s passionate and aggressive and can also understand where a company with two people is coming from versus one with 20, versus one with 100, and really use different types of communication styles,” Bedor said.

When it comes to Minneapolis, the city’s director of transit development, David Frank, has mostly been working on residential development along the Hiawatha and Central Corridor LRT lines. However, Frank has seen more interest lately from commercial developers.

For example, Frank worked with Colleen Carey of The Cornerstone Group to put together a plan for the city to purchase the former Boeser sheet metal fabrication building at 2901 Fourth St. SE, near the future Prospect Park light-rail station. The plan is to demolish the building to make way for about 250 affordable- and market-rate apartments.

Plans also call for a “greenbelt” in the middle of Fourth Street Southeast to make it more pedestrian-friendly, a place where cars would be treated as “guests.”

“I know this has been a focus of St. Paul for some time to create higher-density development along transit corridors,” Frank said, “but having someone to actually do it is both a meaningful sign and can make a significant difference.”